Given some of the comments I’ve seen here I would agree. It’s almost as if one side hopes the other goes to hell so that they can make the proverbial statement “I TOLD YA”.
First, let me emphasize that I do not hold to this opinion. It is absolutely wrong to be judgmental and to be the kind of person to say “I told you so”. I pray for the salvation of everyone, and I firmly believe, as the Catholic Church does, that it is possible for non-Catholics to go to heaven. Please understand that I’m not trying to be judgmental, I’m simply trying to follow the teachings of my faith to the best of my ability.
As an historian, I always like to look at the evidence, and the preponderance of evidence is that Holy Communion has always been at the core of Christianity. It’s importance is attested to by most of the Early Church Fathers. In fact, it is probably the point upon which the early church MOST agreed.
I said I thought it was a sin to deny. So then explain the Priests who don’t strictly enforce this. Explain Roman Catholics who come to our church and receive. Explain any Roman Catholic who attends Protestant churches and receives. Explain Protestants who attend Catholic services and receive.
There have indeed been troubling developments in the Church since Vatican II, and this is among the most serious. I’ve heard lots of explanations for why Church attendance is down so much, but the most convincing to me is poor catechesis.
The vast majority of Catholics have become “cultural” Catholics without really practicing their faith. They’re not
bad people, but they fall into two groups. One group has been poorly instructed in the faith, and simply doesn’t know what the Church actually teaches. Many Catholics don’t even KNOW that we teach the Real Presence, and that’s sad. Others are shocked when they learn what we really teach. The massive decline in people going to confession or refraining from communion when in a state of mortal sin is another serious development that often goes along with this.
The other group
knows what the Church teaches, and chooses to disregard some teachings as the “traditions of men”, assuming that they can be wrong. A core belief of Catholicism is the absolute guarantee by the Holy Spirit that Dogmas are correct, and cannot be changed. Now, obviously, not everything is a dogma. Certain traditions, like priestly celibacy, are INDEED traditions that may be altered. That said, Dogmas are non-negotiable, like the Trinity, and the Immaculate Conception. They must be believed, or one is essentially rejecting Catholicism.
As often happens with Church councils (Vatican II in this case), it takes time for the changes to take effect (often 100 or more years). Usually, when change occurs, it happens like a pendulum. The implementation will overcorrect the original problem, and inevitably swing a bit too far, requiring an eventual correction to bring things back into line. We are now seeing the pendulum swing back under Benedict XVI, who intends to correct abuses that have occurred when ecumenism has gone too far. It may have been wrong to keep people from EVER attending a Protestant church for any reason (even a funeral) before Vatican II. However, priests that violate the rules of the Catholic Church by so casually allowing communion are doing untold damage to the Church. People assume that these errors are ok, and it further destroys the catechesis. Fortunately, the generation of priests that are being produced now are tending to be extremely conservative, since more liberal elements are not interested any longer in becoming priests (for a variety of reasons). Many have turned away (indeed, to Protestantism sometimes). For examples of how the pendulum is swinging back, note the recent release of the Motu Proprio releasing the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, the directive from the pope on the Catholic definition of “Church” (and why Protestants are simply “ecclesial communities” because they do not have apostolic succession and the Real Presence), and the reaffirmation the other day of the need for Jews to convert in the now-modified Good Friday prayer. We’ve also had the recent ad orientum Mass in the ORDINARY form by the pope a few weeks ago, emphasizing the
sacrificial nature of the Mass. As this old, 1960s generation of liberal priests dies out, and is replaced by the more doctrinally strict youth, we may indeed see a tightening up of the church. Pope Benedict himself has said that sadly, it may be necessary for the church to shrink to survive. A smaller, but more faithful church may preserve Catholicism from fragmenting in the way that denominations like the Anglicans are right now.
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Why would I try to emphasize my unity with a group that I believed to have serious errors (or misconceptions) in their beliefs about Christianity? Am I condescending when I politely refuse to attend a service at a Hindu temple or a Mosque because I simply believe that they are in error?
